Why use a dog harness?
Did you aquire your first dog lately and you are pondering between buying a fancy collar or dog harness?
Or maybe you’ve owned dogs for years and just like I have, you’ve seen these people with different types of collars and harnesses and you’re wondering, should I get that? What are the benefits besides the looks?
In like manner, we proceeded to scatter the internet to gather as much data as possible for you. Also, we bought a few of them, we used them. You’ll see links to them throughout this article.
So here are the five main reasons to use a dog harness or simply put: Why use a dog harness?
1. Dog harnesses are the most safe & secure way to hook a dog
As you know, dogs come in all sizes. Some of them are more vulnerable than others. Mostly small to very small dogs which tends to have more fragile bone structures. Some of them are more prone to injuries than others.
So to get to the point, we called all the dog trainers and veterinarians in our area, we spoke to pet shop owners and people working at the SPCA.
In reality, it is practically unanimous folks, the dog harness is simply the safest, most secure way to hook your dog.
In fact, It is especially beneficial for breeds said as “shortened head” with a flat face such as Chow Chows, Chihuahuas, Pekingese, French Bulldogs Shih Tzus, Bulldogs or Pugs.
These type of dogs often suffers from respiratory issues which the harness helps reduce considerably.
2. Why use a dog harness? Less pull stress!
Furthermore, one of the main and most important reasons to use a dog harness is the immediate reduction in pull stress.
A body harness, for example, was initially designed for dogs who were going to be pulling heavy loads.
To clarify, It’s basically designed to distribute the weight and pressure from a leash all the way through your dog’s body, making it more comfortable for the dog to pull.
A good quality harness will essentially lower the center of gravity of your dog, give you more control and the result of that will be less pull stress for the dog and the human which will also reduce the chance of injury.
3. Greater variety of sizes and shapes of harnesses
Moreover, compared to say collars and other products, dog harnesses come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit almost all types of dogs.
Namely, it also includes extra small and extra-large dogs which are often neglected by the main brands.
Between the front-clip harness and the full-body harness, it is relatively easy to find something both esthetically pleasing, comfortable for the dog, and most importantly, of the right size.
4. More control over your dog
If you own a big dog or if your dog is one of the strong ones, you know how control over your dog can be lost in a fraction of a second.
So this one is pretty straightforward. A dog harness will immediately give you more control over your dog, independently of its size. Why?
Because science! Haha
Basically, the dog harness will cover your dog’s chest, shoulders, and upper back.
In short, this dissipation or dispersion of pressure over a larger area will increase the overall control over your dog.
In general, more control also means the dog will tend to be more obedient. It should be easier for you to train, work on basic commands or even learn new ones.
Furthermore, the extra control provided by the dog harness will also be sensed by your dog and the result of that will be a calmer and more compliant beast.
5. Gets less tangled
Finally, we have all been thru the eternal untangling of the leash, especially the people using the very long ones.
If so, don’t underestimate this one because it was for our kind of a game-changer. With the dog harness, the leash gets way less tangled.
The reason behind that which I already stated before is the lower center of gravity resulting from your dog wearing the harness.
Concretely, the actual harness secures closer to the dog’s center of gravity which will also help prevent unsolicited jumping.
What Dog Harness Did We Buy?
As you know, we own a beautiful labrador and a small chihuahua. So we went for this model rabbitgoo which is available in 4 different sizes and about 20 different colors.
However, this is mainly desined for medium to large dogs. It has a list of recommended breeds which includes: Golden Retriever, Huskie, Labrador, Alaska, German Shepherd, Akita, etc.
The result, I must say, is quite impressive. You will see that we bought a more expensive one below and I’m not sure the dog knows or feel the difference. The most expensive one sure looks cooler and more durable though.
Since we were uncertain about the size and quality of the first dog harness, we decided to order the more expensive one to see the real difference between an amateur harness and a professional harness.
The one and only Julius-K9 IDC Powerharness for Dogs.
This one is the kind of harness used by K9 units and other stuff of that importance.
As mentioned before, it is incredibly well made and surely more durable than any other models I’ve come across. It also is from Juluis-K9, which is a reputable business in the industry.
However, for what it’s worth, our dog didn’t seem to enjoy more or less than the other model. And for the price difference, I wonder if this is really worth it for the daily walk around the park. You can judge by yourself.
This article would not have been possible without these sources:
PETA: https://www.peta.org/
WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/
Omlet: https://blog.omlet.co.uk
Safewise: https://www.safewise.com/
Whole dog journal: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com